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Dolomites etc walking/via ferrata multi day trip

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 Cheese Monkey 22 May 2016
Thinking of doing a hut to hut type walk, with via ferratas thrown in where possible. For about a week would be grand. Any ideas? Dolomites is the first place that springs to mind but I'm open to ideas. Higher altitude stuff may be a go if I can persuade my OH glaciers are not freezing cold sheets of death
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 Phil_ncl 11 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:
There are two VFs on Marmoladaa and they link nicely over two days. Parking at the cafe at the bottom you can head up VF Eterna, then cross the (dry and uncrevassed when I last went over) glacier to the Rifugio Pian dei Fiacconi. Staying here means that you can get up the summit VF the next morning before the lifts open and traffic builds up. The refugio on the top is meant to be an exciting stay if you fancy too. Returning from the summit does require some roping but on a safe enough glacier. The route is pounded by guides and clients later in the day so a safe route should be obvious (you could easily enough get a guide too if the OH would prefer). There's a cable car from near the rifugio to the valley bottom and a pretty walk back to the car (there's a bus stop I think if no car). The cicerone book describes both well. The routes are quite heavy going and graded hard because they are big days, but the technical side is not as bad as it would seem. I'd recommend this day if you can persuade others of glaciers being fun! Map = Tabacco 015.

An easier option we've done is out of Misurina East of Cortina and is more of one long day but would make two nice easy days that we looked at. Parking at the ski lift you can take the path 120 up the hill and meet the 117 path round to rif Fonda Savio (nice food). There is a ski lift skips out the walk up 120 but it has great views and you can save a few euros for lunch. The 117 is absolutely stunning and you feel rather adventurous while never really getting anywhere too serious (helmets needed for parts though when we were there as loose rock ++ about). From here there are options: we did the nearby VF Merlone Ceria and came back to the hut. It's a particularly easy route with big ladders that mostly make for cool photos and boring climbing...but the view at the top is very much worth it. As with Marmolada it's in the cicerone book. There is a little bit of cold white stuff in the valley bottom but it was fine for us even on a particularly cold early July. If you are a climber there are some nice routes between the lift and the hut as well as on the hut's doorstep. We were lazy and opted to go back down to Misurina directly (path 118) making one long day. But you could easily stay at the refugio and continue along 117 to Rif Auronzo the next day then back to you car through the valley so you get the stunning views of the Tre Cime. A friend says to return the following day via the alta via dolomiti heading round the E and S sides of the massif is great. I'd say it's well worth a look on the map. Map = Tabacco 03.
Post edited at 14:56
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 d_b 11 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

You can do a fair few days in the sella group without coming down. For 2 days out you could go up and down monte cristalo. I went up the renato de pol and another one, stayed at the lorenzi hut and down the ivano dibona. Well worth the effort.

Didn't get the summit unfortunately as it was all iced up in the morning and I only had summer kit
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OP Cheese Monkey 11 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Thanks guys! Could well be a possibility, sounds like a couple of good ideas.

I've convinced her that glaciers are amazing places so we're looking at options in the Alps too. Classic Haute route possibly! Other shorter ideas welcome. No 'alpine' climbing allowed - I promised
 d_b 12 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

You are doing better than me. My partner refuses to have anything to do with glaciers. Got quite cross with me when I took her for a walk over some "gravel" under marmolada then told her that she had just spent the last half hour on a glacier
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 Phil_ncl 12 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Haha good work my gf thankfully is pretty excited by these things so no coercion needed!

As davidbeynon said above the Sella group is a good shout actually.

Have fun!!
 Toerag 13 Jun 2016
In reply to davidbeynon:
Ha! I did exactly the same as you re. Cristallo - was really good (albeit a long uphill day from Ospitale).

For the Sella - I've done up VF Brigata Tridentina, across plateau to Boe Hutte, sleep there, then down VF Vallon and up VF Piz Da Lech the next day.

The OP - You can do the VF Santnerpass / Kesselkogel / VF Masare as a 2 dayer I'm sure.

You can do some good hut to hut VF in the Brenta too:-
Up Groste cablecar then by path to Tuckett hut, then VF SOSAT to Alimonta hut and sleep there. Next day do either VF Bochette northbound and VF Bernini to Groste, or VF Spellini, Sentier Orsi and VF Benini to Groste (I've done the latter version).

You can do some 2 day stuff in the Triglav region of Slovenia, but any longer than that requires dropping a long way into valleys to link the mountains (no useful cablecars).

There's a nice looking 2 day option around the Coburger hutte / Drachensee in Austria.

One hut-to-hut I really want to do is the Lechtaler Hohenweg - http://www.lechtaler-hoehenweg.at/ You can do pretty much any distance from 2-10 days depending on where you start and finish.

There's lots of 3+ day hut-to-hut stuff you can do in the alps, the trick is finding an area where you don't drop right down to valley level (unless you want that of course). There are shedloads of VF in the Swiss, Austrian and German alps so don't restrict your view to the Dolomites, the Bergsteigen.com site is a good place to look for VFs (klettersteig).
Re: glaciers - high VF will take you over benign mini glaciers and snow patches which don't have crevasse risk, yet add interest. A set of 6 point crampons will make then much more enjoyable and safe, a rock hard one first thing in the morning is no fun in approach shoes / bendy boots!
Post edited at 12:55
 Casa Alfredino 13 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Some good suggestions here - there are of course many options. A few years ago we did a trip up the Santnerpass and then the Cantenaccio d'Antemoia, then over to Tierser Alpl for the night, then the Denti Rossi in the morning, then a walk over to the Sella Pass. In the morning it was raining so rather than do the Possnecker we walked down to Canazei and took the bus to Passo Fedaia and went up to the Fiacconi hut there to stay the night and then did the west ridge of Marmolada in the AM. If you look at my profile You'll find a blog I wrote about he route.

There is also supposed to be an excellent trip from Passo Duran to Passo Staulanza across the Moiazza and Civetta ranges. This area is little known by brits and I can assure you it has some of the very finest rock architecture anywhere in the Dolomites - it's utterly breathtaking.

As a note, please do NOT rely on staying at the hut on top of Marmolada. It is a drinks only refuge or an emergency shelter. The emergency shelter when I looked last time I was up there was stuffed to the ceiling with rubbish, so you would have to beg the hut guardian to stay inside. It would be fool hardy in the extreme to think you would be allowed to stay there as a matter of course.
womblingfree 13 Jun 2016
In reply to Casa Alfred

I was hoping to do a hut to hut trip with the possibility of Via Ferrate in the next couple of weeks but circumstances have changed.

Out of curiosity what would the condittion be like in Septmeber? I was in Romania last year on the Bucegi mountains the last week of Septmeber and the weather was starting to turn at that time, lost of mist, rain, fog and a bit of snow fo good measure. Huts were closing too
 Casa Alfredino 13 Jun 2016
In reply to womblingfree:

To be honest, I simply don't know why more people don't go there in September and October. Especially September is some of the best time due to the slightly lower temps down on the plain meaning you get much much more stable weather in the mountains. The first half of October can be the same although a little less certain. But compared to the almost daily rainstorms it's really pretty great. Added to which, with all the locals firmly back at their places of work, the mountains are virtually empty... That's when I go!
 Toerag 13 Jun 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:
I've done the first week of September ever since the first time I went in July and had issues with unmelted snow. I've had great weather, and rainy weather, but that's just luck. Weather patterns have changed over the years and I think the Alps suffer the changeable weather we now get here in August.
I suspect people don't do October because a lot of huts and lifts shut around the 20th September.
 Casa Alfredino 13 Jun 2016
In reply to Toerag:

Absolutely, so true. Unfortunately the locals are very focused on the way Italians holiday which means they miss out in the shoulder season. But that doesn't mean to say you can't still have a great, cheap holiday in those periods! Just have to take a sarnie box with you
womblingfree 13 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

encouraging news
 Brass Nipples 13 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Just be aware from mid September a few lifts and huts will be closed, but it is nice and quiet.
 d_b 13 Jun 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

> As a note, please do NOT rely on staying at the hut on top of Marmolada. It is a drinks only refuge or an emergency shelter. The emergency shelter when I looked last time I was up there was stuffed to the ceiling with rubbish, so you would have to beg the hut guardian to stay inside. It would be fool hardy in the extreme to think you would be allowed to stay there as a matter of course.

That is unfortunate. I had a great time staying there in 2003. When did it change?
 Casa Alfredino 13 Jun 2016
In reply to davidbeynon:

No idea I'm afraid. It may not still be the case but they certainly don't advertise space and I'm not aware they ever have?
 Casa Alfredino 13 Jun 2016
In reply to davidbeynon:
Looking at the official website I can't see a clear answer to this. On one page it says there are 6 spaces - which would suggest a limited emergency capacity - as I said when I was last up there the emergency section looked to stuffed with rubbish. The hut was open. But that said I saw this page http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/capanna-punta-penia-emergency-shelter-or-t... which suggest you CAN stay there - although the post is pretty old?
Post edited at 23:02
 d_b 28 Jun 2016
In reply to Casa Alfredino:

When I stayed there in '03 the accommodation was in the main dining area. Mattresses were stowed on high shelves & pulled down and laid out on the floor in the evening.

I don't remember looking at the emergency area. Maybe it is cleared in autumn and left open in winter when the main hut is closed?
 proandras 29 Jun 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

I suggest the Karnische Alpen which is a beautiful 7-10 day trek. This ridge forms the border between Austria and Italy, northeast of Dolomites. The path is easy on 2000-2500 m altitude, but has many VF sections with tunnels and strongpoints from WWI.

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